SC : Humphry Davy

[Samy]

Scoretop Forum Q.

The nineteenth-century chemist Humphry Davy presented the results of his early
experiments in his "Essay on Heat and Light," a critique of all chemistry since Robert
Boyle as well as a vision of a new chemistry that Davy hoped to found.

A. a critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle as well as a vision of a
B. a critique of all chemistry following Robert Boyle and also his envisioning of a
C. a critique of all chemistry after Robert Boyle and envisioning as well
D. critiquing all chemistry from Robert Boyle forward and also a vision of
E. critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as his own
envisioning of

Its between the highlighted choices.
What according to you is choice that displays correct Parallelism.
Thanks

[Harish Dorai]

I think the correct answer is (A).

The first split I used was "critiquing" vs "a critique" and I went with "a critique", as it correctly refers to the book "Essay on Heat and Light". So that leaves (A), (B) and (C).

"Essay on Heat and Light", "a critique of all chemistry......" AS WELL AS "a vision....." is more parallel.

[dbernst]

Harish,

I agree with you. Answer choice A provides the parallel comparison a critique and a vision; conversely, answer choice B incorrectly equates a critique with his envisioning. Furthermore, the pronoun his in choice B is arguably ambiguous, as it could refer to Davy or Boyle.

-dan

[vijayjakhotia]

I understand that the option A 'a critique' modifies 'Essay on Heat and Light' and hence is the right option.

E. critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as his own envisioning of new chemistry that Davy hoped to found.

I am confused with the explanation/reasoning given for E. In this option E, I see that critiquing & envisioning are parallel. But I see explanation in OG & other sources saying that Humphry Davy is critiquing even the new chemistry that Davy hoped to found. Can u please tell how is this explanation valid?

[vijayjakhotia]

Can someone please answer my above post?

thanks
Vijay

[peeyoush.gmat]

E changes the meaning which do not fit with the logic of the sentence.
Results of the experiments are presented in "Essay on Heat and Light"
which form the critical analysis of post boyle chemistry
which also represent the vision of new chemistry

However E means that "Essay on Heat and Light" is a critical analysis of both 'chemistry since boyle' as well as of 'dave's vision of new chemistry'

[RonPurewal]

I understand that the option A 'a critique' modifies 'Essay on Heat and Light' and hence is the right option.

E. critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as his own envisioning of new chemistry that Davy hoped to found.

I am confused with the explanation/reasoning given for E. In this option E, I see that critiquing & envisioning are parallel. But I see explanation in OG & other sources saying that Humphry Davy is critiquing even the new chemistry that Davy hoped to found. Can u please tell how is this explanation valid?

in choice (e), despite their appearances, "critiquing" and "envisioning" are NOT parallel. the former is an -ING modifier, while the latter is a gerund (noun).

you don't have to make this distinction, though -- just notice that the right-hand structure starts with "HIS ...envisioning", and notice that nothing on the other side is parallel to this construction.

[RonPurewal]

Can someone please answer my above post?

thanks
Vijay

don't do this -- i.e., don't post a message that says "please answer my question".
this is called "bumping" the thread; it brings the thread up to the most recent position in the folder.

the problem, of course -- besides the fact that "reminder posts" are obnoxious, rude, and unprofessional -- is that we answer the posts strictly in order from oldest to newest. therefore, if you post a message, with no content, that says "please answer this post", then you are moving the thread to the LAST place in the queue.

please be patient -- we will get to all of the threads. if you make posts like this one, you're just making yourself wait longer.

thanks.

[susmod]

I apologize for reviving this old thread. The OA is A. How can A be correct? What does 'since Robert Boyle' mean? Shouldn't it be something like 'since Robert Boyle's time' or something like that?

[jnelson0612]

I apologize for reviving this old thread. The OA is A. How can A be correct? What does 'since Robert Boyle' mean? Shouldn't it be something like 'since Robert Boyle's time' or something like that?

I think the implication is that Robert Boyle's work and discoveries were so significant that there was an era associated with his work that is known and obvious. Keep in mind, though, that this is not a real GMAT question and is not written to GMAT standards.

[vivek.bs2010]

Jamie,

I got this question in my GMAT Prep last week.
The word 'found' in the sentence really vexed me at the time I read the question. I picked option (a) simply because it was the best option among the lot, but I wasted a lot of time trying to piece together a construction that would go with
"...a new chemistry that Davy hoped to find."

When to use 'found' vs 'find'? (I don't mean the obvious past/present sense)

[gmat.acer]

I apologize for reviving this old thread. The OA is A. How can A be correct? What does 'since Robert Boyle' mean? Shouldn't it be something like 'since Robert Boyle's time' or something like that?

I think the implication is that Robert Boyle's work and discoveries were so significant that there was an era associated with his work that is known and obvious. Keep in mind, though, that this is not a real GMAT question and is not written to GMAT standards.

So when we use 'since Robert Boyle' in this context to mean the famous era of his time, can we also use "following Robert Boyle" or "after Robert Boyle" as used in (B) & (C)? Or does it have to be 'since'?

[alicegmat]

Hi.

Is the idiom from Robert Boyle forward wrong or suspect?
It seems totally wrong to me.
Thanks.

[rohan1507]

Hi,

Will the option E be correct if it is changed to "critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as envisioning".

[cyprus]

Hi Ron,

Apologies for reviving an old thread. With regards to option B, can we not consider 'a Critique' (action noun?) and 'his envisioning of..' (complex gerund) as parallel as action nouns can parallel complex gerunds? (I can see why A is the correct answer and I would pick A given this question. But I'm trying to apply only parallelism to eliminate answer choices and I wonder if I'm wrong not eliminating choice B on account of parallelism).

Much appreciate your feedback.

Many thanks,
DS

Ron

you don't have to make this distinction, though -- just notice that the right-hand structure starts with "HIS ...envisioning", and notice that nothing on the other side is parallel to this construction.[/quote]